Red City
by svnshne
Summary: Reid is assaulted, leaving him and the team to pick up the pieces. They must find the man who did this in order to save Reid.
1. Chapter 1

"Reid, stay here while we go talk to the witness," Morgan said. Reid nodded, and although slightly annoyed, did as he was told.

"Don't do anything stupid," Elle told him.

Reid sighed as they made their way down the long drive way. They couldn't actually see the house from where the SUV was, because of the fact that the drive way was long and winding, and because of all of the trees that surrounded this witness' house.

He leaned against the vehicle, and nervously anticipated the return of his coworkers. Something didn't feel right, but he wasn't sure what it was. His stomach twisted uncomfortably, and briefly he worried that something bad would happen to Morgan or Elle.

If one of them was hurt and all he did was sit outside and wait for them, he didn't know how he would ever forgive himself.

But Elle and Morgan were professionals, and they wouldn't get hurt.

They _couldn't. _

Besides, Dr. Spencer Reid had other things to worry about as he recited the Artamonov Business by Maxim Gorky in is head. He heard something, or rather, someone, behind him.

Then, he heard the distinctive sound of a shotgun being loaded.

Without making a sound, he reached down to the holster on his hip, but he felt something prod his back. It was the shotgun.

"Don't," A man's voice commanded him. It was low and gruff, and _terrifying. _He felt the man reach around Reid's torso, his hands sliding places that they shouldn't have, and grab his gun and pull it out of his holster.

"Come on," The man ordered, yanking Reid back by the arm, "Yell for help and I'll blow your pretty little brain out of your head,"

He had called Reid pretty, and he was rough when touching him. Reid swallowed, if his preliminary profile was right from the past thirty seconds, and this man _was _the unsub, Reid knew he wouldn't like where this would go.

He only hoped that Morgan and Elle came out of the house soon.

The man shoved Reid forward a few feet, still not revealing his face. _That's a good sign, _Reid thought, _that means he probably doesn't mean to kill me. _That thought, however, did not comfort him.

With his only motive being the barrel of a gun pressing against his back, Reid slowly made his way where this man was directing him.

"Come on, you pretty boy." Reid closed his eyes momentarily when he heard Morgan's nickname for him. He took a deep, shaky breathe as they walked deeper into the woods.

The sun was getting closer to the horizon, and it would soon be nightfall. If this man were to incapacitate him- or worse- Reid's team would not be able to find them if it were dark.

They continued walking for what felt like miles, before they came to a small clearing. The stopped in the center of it, and Reid yelped in surprise as he was forced to bend over. He struggled against him for a few moments, before being hit over the head with the butt of the man's shotgun. He fell to the ground, stunned. The man then yanked Reid up by the hair, and pressed a cold knife against his neck.

"Don't make me punish you," He growled into Reid's ear. Reid shuddered involuntarily. The man was then ontop of him, straddling him. He put the knife against Reid's back and tore into his cardigan and shirt. Reid tried not to react, because he knew that this man was a sexual sadist, and screaming and crying would only make this worse.

The man didn't tear or rip off his khaki pants, however, he simply yanked them down to Reid's ankles.

Reid's eyes wideneed, realizing how real this situation was.

"Please," Reid pleaded, "I'm a federal agent, you could get in a lot of trouble if someone finds out,"

"Let's make sure they don't find out, then." The man's gruff voice was in Reid's ear.

"You…You don't have to do this." Reid whimpered as he heard a zipper. He tried to crawl away, only to have the man drag him back by his feet and push him on the ground. The man parted Reid's legs, and Reid felt a sob wrack his body as he felt the man's head press against his opening.

"_Please!" _Reid sobbed, "Please, I'm a virgin!"

"Even better," The man whispered in his ear, and with that, he plunged into Reid.


	2. Chapter 2

"He's not home," Elle commented.

"I can see that, Elle," Morgan said. He didn't want to return to Hotch empty handed, because if their profile was right, the unsub would kidnap another teenage boy before the next evening.

"Let's get back to Reid." Elle said. Morgan sighed, silently agreeing with her.

As they made their way back down the quarter mile long driveway, Elle commented, "It looks like rain."

"Great, weather to match the mood," Morgan said jokingly. Elle gave a slight smile, but then frowned, "What? What is it?" Morgan asked.

"Where's Reid?" Elle asked. Morgan looked at the SUV that was now coming into sight, but couldn't see any sign of Reid.

"Yo, Reid! Come on man, stop playing!" Morgan called as Elle instinctively placed a hand on one of her holsters. She began to make her way to the SUV, with Morgan in tow. Morgan's heart felt like it had went up into his throat when they still couldn't find Reid.

"Call him," Elle instructed.

"Already on it," Morgan said, taking out his phone and dialing Reid's number. He closed his eyes in terror when he heard Reid's ring tone come from underneath the car. Elle bent over, picking something up. It was his phone.

"Wherever he went, he didn't bring his phone," She commented.

"Elle," said Morgan, "How many times does the unsub insert himself into the investigation?"

"Reid would know,"

"This man called as a witness to say he saw the last kidnapping and rape happen. What are the odds that-?"

"Reid doesn't fit the victimology," Elle's voice had gotten quieter.

"The victimology is teenage boys who are runaways. Reid looks younger than he is, and sometimes, with the way he dresses, he looks homeless."

"Oh God," Elle whispered, "Call the others."

The man grunted as he finished inside of Reid. He laid on top of him, then, panting, before Reid felt him roll off, and Spencer almost sighed in relief.

But that momentarily relief did not last long, because he felt the cold metal of the man's knife tear into his skin.

"To tell everybody that you're mine,"

_I'm _not _yours! _Reid thought stubbornly, but remained silent. He closed his eyes, the worst part was already over, and the knife was really nothing, compared to what had just happened.

The man then got up, brushing his jeans off, still facing away from Reid, not showing his face. He walked away from Reid.

Reid tried to take in every other characteristic of the man, though. He was tall, muscular. He had dark brown hair and was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, both of which had blood on them. Reid's blood.

As soon as the man was out of sight, Reid reached down and pulled his pants up, too exhausted to do anything else.

_At least when they find my body, I won't be _completely _naked. _

Night had just about fallen, and Reid could barely see what was in front of him anymore. Whether that was due to the concussion he had sustained, or the darkness, he wasn't completely sure. Never in his life had he felt so vulnerable, and so _disgusting_. He let out a small sob, wrapping his arms around his torso as rain started to fall.

"Thanks Garcia," Hotch said, hanging up his phone. Gideon looked up from the case file he had been studying, his glasses on the edge of his nose.

"Nothing useful," He assured him as JJ entered the conference room in the town's crowded police station.

"You got anything?" Gideon asked the blonde media liaison.

"Maps of every campsite and national park in the state," She said, "I wish we wouldn't have sent Reid with the others, he would be able to do this so much faster," She said, laying the maps down on the table.

Moments later, Hotch's phone rang again. This time, it was Morgan.

"Yeah?" He asked as he answered the phone.

"Hotch, we think the unsub has Reid." Morgan's voice almost cracked, and Hotch could tell that he was in distress.

Hotch, taken off his guard, was silent for a moment, before asking, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Hotch's stomach twisted into uncomfortable knots.

"Hold on," He said, putting the phone on speaker, "You've got Gideon, JJ, and I. Tell us what happened,"

"We went to talk to Timothy Curry, the witness. He's the unsub."

"Did you arrest him?" JJ asked.

"No,"

"How do you know he's the unsub?" Gideon asked, taking off his glasses.

"Because he took Reid."

There was a stunned silence in the room following the sentence, Gideon's jaw clenched, and JJ's eyes widened.

"I want a unit out there right now, let's find him before its too late," Hotch said before hanging up.


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you think he's still-?"

"I have to, Elle." Gideon responded, his flashlight illuminating a small portion of the woods in front of them.

The unsub, Curry, kidnapped teenage boys, usually between the ages of fourteen and nineteen, sexually assaulted them, and after he was done, he shot them point blank, execution style, in the back of the head with a shotgun.

"We have to prepare ourselves for the worst," Elle said quietly.

"Elle, please, don't. I know the statistics, I know what the unsub does to his victims, but I'm not giving up on Spencer until we find a body." Elle made eye contact with him.

"Neither am I," She agreed. They continued rooting through the forest, in silence.

"There's a clearing up there," Gideon commented, letting Elle take the lead.

Elle stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a small, unmoving lump in the middle of the clearing, "Gideon…" She breathed. Gideon stepped beside her, and shining his flashlight, he shivered.

"We were too late," Gideon murmured.

Spencer's eyes snapped shut as he heard a male voice and footsteps approaching.

_No! He's coming back!_

He held his breath, trying to remain as still as possible.

_Maybe if he thinks I'm dead, he'll just leave._

The voice turned into two voices then, and Spencer had to forcefully stop himself from shaking with terror.

The footsteps were coming closer, until the people were at the edge of the clearing, still whispering to each other. His eyes snapped open. One of the voices belonged to a female. The other one, the male one, seemed to change, turning into one that Spencer was familiar with.

"G-gideon?" Spencer croaked. He flinched at how pathetic he sounded.

He heard the woman, it was Elle, he had decided, call for a medic.

Then he felt hands on him, and he yelped, crawling away from them.

"Spencer it's okay, it's me. It's Gideon." Jason said soothingly to the younger man.

"Gideon," Reid repeated, "Please don't touch me," he whispered. 

"I'm not going to hurt you, Spencer, no one is going to hurt you." He murmured, trying to be comforting.

"Reid, its Elle." Elle's voice said, and she appeared beside him. He flinched, but didn't make an attempt to move away from her.

"Put this on him," Gideon said, taking off his coat and giving it to Elle.

Spencer looked at him, "But you'll be cold,"

"I'll be fine, Spencer," Gideon assured him.

"Alright, Reid, I'm going to wrap this around you, okay? Do you need help getting it on?" She asked.

Reid shook his head.

"Where's your shirt?" Gideon asked in a quiet voice.

"Cut it off," Spencer murmured, not looking at them.

"You did?" Elle asked.

"The man."

"What did he look like?" Gideon asked.

"I don't know,"

"What was he wearing?"

"I don't remember," Reid lied. He just wanted this to be over.

"That's okay, Spencer," Gideon said. He knew that Reid was lying, but didn't press him on it, "I'm going to wrap my arms around you, okay? To help you stand. The gurneys can't get in here because of the uneven ground, so we need to get you out of here." Reid didn't respond as he felt Gideon's arms wrap around his skinny body.

"Can you walk," Spencer stared straight ahead, not answering.

"Spencer, look at me," Elle said, "Can you walk?"

"M'tired," he murmured.

"I know, Spencer, I know," Gideon said.

"Reid!" It was Morgan's voice, the dark skinned profiler was making his way over to Spencer, and he engulfed him in a hug. Reid froze, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Morgan, let him go," Hotch's voice ordered. Morgan complied, letting of of him.

"I'm tired," Reid repeated.

"He's in shock." Hotch said.

"Let's get him out of here," Elle murmured, standing behind Reid just in case he were to topple over, which by the looks of it, was very much a possibility.


	4. Chapter 4

"Spencer Reid?" a young doctor said, coming out into the waiting room, where the whole BAU was, well, waiting.

Hotch and Gideon stood up, "We're his coworkers, Agent Reid got injured on the job," Gideon explained. She nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Agent Reid sustained several injuries including cuts that were delivered to him with what appears to be a serrated knife, a gash on his head that needed stitches and caused a concussion that might induce slight memory loss, and tearing to his rectum and internal bleeding that had to be corrected through surgery and stitches. He was sexually assaulted at least once, but most likely more than that," She said quietly, not looking into the profilers' eyes.

"May we see him?" Hotch asked.

"He's not yet awake, but he'll probably come to in a few minutes, after the sedative wears off."

"We'll wait," Gideon said.

"Alright," The doctor said, "I'll bring you to his room,"

Reid woke up to a room that was almost completely dark, except for the dim light of machines. He was in a hospital. It took him a moment to remember why, and when he did, it felt like his chest was about to explode.

He desperately wished that there was some other light than just from the machines. Embarrassingly enough, he was afraid of the dark, and although the fear didn't usually manifest itself this intensely, the events of that day made him even more jumpy.

He tried to breathe. He tried to calm himself, but it wasn't working. He lay there on his bed, his chest heaving up and down, until someone entered the room.

"The lights..." He croaked, "Turn them on..." The person did, and he saw it was Dr. Reyna, a pretty blonde that was around his age.

"Dr. Reid, there are some people who would like to see you," She said, shutting the door behind her, "But I wanted to make sure you were okay with that first,"

"I don't want them to see me like this," he whispered. She came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Spencer," She said softly, "They're worried about you. They just want to make sure you're still kicking." She said, smiling slightly. Reid looked at her.

"What if they don't want me anymore?"

"That won't be a problem, they love you," She whispered, patting him on the leg.

"I'm scared of the people I trust most."

"They won't touch you," She said, "Do you want me to stay in here with you?"

He shook his head, "You don't have to."

She nodded, getting up and going over to the heavy wooden door. She opened it, talking quietly to the people who were outside, before she exited, and the members of his team were ushered in.

"Hey Reid," Garcia said gently, "How is my favorite Junior G-man?" She asked, with a smile on her face. He could tell it was forced, and that she was close to breaking down and crying.

She probably already had, judging by the smudges of her makeup.

"I've seen better days," He said, looking down at his hands, which were resting on his stomach.

"Don't scare me like that again," JJ said. He tried to smile, but it faltered before it really formed.

"Sorry, Jayge." He whispered.

"How do you feel?" Gideon asked, coming closer to the bed. Reid's eyes widened.

_No, it's Gideon, he would never hurt me. _

Then why was he so scared.

_Because of the presence of a powerful man reminds me of _him.

Reid tried to steady his breathing, and closed his eyes.

"Sorry," Gideon apologized, realizing what was happening.

"I'm sorry," Reid whispered.

"Oh Reid, you shouldn't be sorry, kid," Elle said, coming closer to him as well, sitting on the edge of the bed, where Dr. Reyna had sat.

"I feel fine," He lied. He felt absolutely terrible. His head was pounding, and his lower regions gave him sharp stabs of pain every time he moved, "When can I go home?"

"Soon, kid," Morgan said, "Just relax for now, and focus on getting better."

"Mentally or physically?" He asked sarcastically.

"Both," Hotch said.

"That Doctor was pretty," Morgan commented.

"That's Dr. Reyna. She's worked with...patients like me before," Reid said. _Victims._

"She looks pretty young to be a doctor," JJ commented.

"Yeah, but so does Reid," Elle responded, "And he's got what? Two PhD's?"

"Never mind, then. I already work with a genius, I don't want to be dating one, too." Morgan said, smiling.

"Morgan, you're such a pig," Elle rolled her eyes.

"Thank you," Reid said. They all looked at him.

"For what?" Garcia asked.

"For not treating me like a victim."

"Kid, you're still you." Morgan said.

"I don't feel like me,"

"Oh, Reid," JJ said, approaching him as if she was about to give him a hug. She stopped, backing off when she saw Reid's face.

"It's okay, Jayge. You can hug me," He said quietly. She walked towards him slowly, wrapping her arms around him gently. He put his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes.

After JJ let go, Garcia came up and wrapped him up in an embrace, "Don't do that to me, you little ass! I thought you were dead! What is this team supposed to do without it's resident genius?" He smiled, a small, genuine, smile.

"Sorry, Garcia," He whispered, still smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

"I got it," Reid snapped as Morgan tried to grab the duffel bag from his hands. Morgan took it anyways.

"Where do you want this?" Morgan asked Gideon, who was already opening the front door of his home.

"My guest bedroom is down the first hall, second room on the right," Gideon told him. Morgan nodded, heading into the older man's house.

Gideon looked at Reid, and noticed his frown.

"He's just watching out for you,"

"I don't _want _to be watched out for, Gideon," Reid complained. That was pretty much all Reid was able to do anymore, complain.

"Yeah, well, you were raped and beaten to near death, so pardon us for worrying," Gideon snapped, walking into his house without another word to Reid. Reid stood, stunned into silence.

_Gideon's right, _he thought, _and the only thing I've been doing is snapping at the team. I practically bit Morgan's head off for calling me pretty-_

He couldn't even say it in the sanctity of his own mind. Curry had ruined him, and he wasn't safe anywhere, not even inside of his head.

_I'm broken._

Morgan poked his head out of the door way, "Pretty boy, you coming?" Reid flinched at the nickname, but decided that he would no longer complain. He wouldn't snap at them, they were, after all, just trying to help him.

_The only reason they're keeping an eye on me is so Curry doesn't come to finish the job. They don't actually _like _me, they just like that they can sneak some of their paperwork in with mine. I'm useful to the team, but not them. _

"Reid, you awake?" Morgan was in front of him now. Reid shied away from him, looking at the ground.

"Yeah, I'm..." _Broken, unwanted._

_ Dirty._

"...Fine,"

"Reid, it's okay to not be okay," Morgan said quietly.

"I'm fine," Reid repeated, not meeting his colleague's eyes.

"Okay, kid," Morgan said, the disbelief obvious in his tone. Thunder roared distantly, the wind picking up, "Let's get inside before it starts raining,"

(**PAGEBREAKPAGEBREAKPAGEBREAKPAGEBREAK)**

"You're really worried about him, aren't you?" Morgan asked, coming up behind Gideon. Gideon sighed.

"Really that obvious?"

"Only to those who know you well,"

"Derek, I said something I really should not have to him earlier today," The look on Reid's face still haunted him. A mixture of sadness, disbelief, betrayal…

"Like?"

"I believe it went along the lines of 'you were raped and beaten and we are just trying to help you,"

"Oh, you said the 'r' word." Morgan whistled.

"The way I said it, though. I was just, so, frustrated. I just want him to be okay again,"

"Gideon, it's gonna take a long time for him to even feel human again, let alone be the person he was. What he needs right now is for us to support him and let him know that we're not leaving him, and he's not going to go through this alone,"

Gideon knew that Morgan was speaking from experience, but they never really touch on that subject, especially since no one else on the team knew about Morgan's past.

"Is he sleeping?" Gideon asked his younger coworker.

"Yeah, curled up into a ball, facing the door."

"You are profiling him," Gideon noted.

"With good reason," Morgan said, his voice raising slightly. Gideon shushed him, motioning towards the hallway that Reid's bedroom was in, "What if he's…?"

"Suicidal?" Gideon finished for him. No, even if Reid was suicidal, Gideon was not going to stand by and let him kill himself. Not someone he viewed as a son.

"Jason," Morgan began. Gideon knew that when Morgan used his first name that he didn't want the conversation going past them. It was personal, not work related, "When Buford… I was not necessarily suicidal, but if a bus had hit me and killed me, I really would not of minded. I'm just...I don't want the kid to go through that same thing,"

"I know Derek, I know."

"What do we do?"

"We do what you said, we support him and let him know that he is not alone."

"You always feel alone when you go through this type of deal, Gideon,"

"Derek, you do not have to tell him, but… He looks up to you, and it will be good that there is someone that's close to him that went through the same thing,"

"Yeah, I was thinking that same thing. I just have no idea how to instigate that conversation. I don't want to embarrass him. He hasn't even acknowledged that it happened yet,"

"He's disassociating himself with the situation," Gideon commented.

"Now who's profiling?" Morgan teased him.  
"Are you sleeping over?"

"That okay?" Morgan asked him. Gideon nodded.

"The only thing I'm worried about is the male presences might scare him."

"I could call JJ?"

"No, he's embarrassed to even be with us right now, I don't think JJ would be good. Definitely not the tech girl,"

"Garcia? Man, you really gotta learn her name,"

"Well, I do now."

"What about Elle?" Morgan asked.

Gideon shook his head, "Let's not have any more people over. It might overwhelm him." Morgan nodded.

"His face, when we found him in the woods. I had never been so relieved, yet so devastated, at the same time. I've never seen him that pale before, Gideon,"

"Speaking of pale," Gideon changed the subject, "We have to make sure he eats and takes his antibiotics. I'm personally more worried about the food,"

Morgan scoffed, leaning against the counter top, "Yeah, he doesn't ever eat nothing, and all he drinks is coffee. The look on his face when the doctor said he wasn't allowed to have coffee for a few weeks!"

Gideon's phone vibrated from it's spot on the counter.

"Who do you think it is now?" Morgan asked.

"Probably Hotch. He feels guilty, because he's the leader of the team, for what happened,"

"He knows Reid doesn't blame him, right?"

"Yes, but Hotch blames himself, and that's arguably worse."


	6. Chapter 6

The sound of the house settling woke Spencer up. He blinked, trying to take in the dark room around him, before reaching over to the nightstand, where a lamp lay, and turning it on.

Why did Curry leave him alive? It wasn't in his profile.

And why Spencer Reid? He was more than five years out of his usual age range.

All of these questions stirred in the young genius' mind. He grunted in annoyance, throwing the covers off of him and getting out of bed.

He still had to move about as gingerly as possible, but he was starting to learn not to care that he was in pain, or that he was even injured.

Opening the door to Gideon's guest room, he peeked out into the hallway. It was also dark, but he could see the faint light of a television coming from the living room.

Why would Gideon still be up?

No, Spencer thought as he listened for Gideon's snoring coming from the bedroom adjacent to his, Morgan must have stayed the night.

Just what he needed, another man to babysit him.

He saw he was correct in his deduction when he reached the living room, Morgan was lying on the couch, his mouth parted slightly, his heavy breathing giving away that he was actually sleeping.

Spencer sighed, grabbing the blanket from the reclining chair in the corner of the room, covering his friend with it. Morgan twitched at the sensation, his eyes opening slightly.

"Reid?" He asked, "What time is it?" Reid shrugged, going into the kitchen to get a drink of water. The sound of movement from the living room alerted that Morgan was following him.

"You okay, kid?" He asked quietly.

"You don't have to whisper, you know. Gideon is a heavy sleeper." After Dowd, Reid had spent a few nights at the older profiler's house, scared of his own nightmares. And Gideon had let him, trying to teach him how to play chess when he couldn't sleep.

"I just woke up," Morgan said, his voice slightly hoarse. Spencer shifted uncomfortably.

"Sorry," He apologized.

"I wasn't going to be sleeping much tonight anyways, Spencer," Morgan caught the young man's eye. Reid quickly broke the contact, looking at the clock on the wall.

_3:03. Three o'clock is called the witching hour in some cultures, because of the relation to the holy trinity. In-_

"Have nightmares?" Morgan interrupted his thought process.

"Nope," Reid lied.

"Oh. Well, I did," Morgan mumbled, leaning against the counter, "Believe it or not, kid, but I know what you're going through. I know all too well,"

Spencer swallowed, awkwardly placing a hand on Morgan's arm, "Do you...wanna talk about it?" The younger man asked. Morgan chuckled.

"His name was Carl Buford," Morgan said, shivering lightly, "He was a big part of my life, and then he..."

"I know, Derek, I know," Spencer said.

"So if you need to talk about-"

"There's nothing to talk about, Morgan,"

"Alright, alright, but if there were, I'm here," Morgan responded, patting Spencer on the back. Spencer flinched in pain.

"Sorry, I forgot you got cuts there," Morgan said.

"What does it say?"

"Hm?"

"What does it say? The cuts?"

_To let everyone know you're mine…_

Reid knew that it said something, Curry wouldn't tell him something like that and not cut a word, or a name, or something into his back. And the doctors and nurses wouldn't tell him.

"Reid..." Morgan said.

"No, Morgan, I want to know what it says!" Morgan shook his head, looking away from him. Reid huffed, walking away from Morgan, going into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind him. He peeled off his shirt, turning around and craning his neck so he could see his back.

_WHORE_

Spencer shivered, looking away in shame.

Derek was waiting outside of the door.

He wished that Morgan would go away, so that he could break down and sob in peace. He covered his face with his hands as tears started flowing freely, and he made no attempt to stop them.

"Spencer..." Morgan whispered, "I'm sorry,"

"Leave me alone, please," Reid whimpered.

"Reid-"

"Go away!"

"Is he awake yet?" Hotch asked, sipping his coffee. Gideon shook his head.

"If he is, he hasn't left the guest room,"

"How is he?"

And just how was he? He had barely said three words to him since yesterday. Maybe Morgan had better luck. They're close.

"About the same as expected," Gideon said quietly.

"So, not good,"

Their conversation was interrupted by Morgan entering the kitchen.

"Good morning," Gideon nodded at him.

"Has Reid woke up yet?"

"No," Gideon answered. Morgan sighed, massaging his temple.

"He still hasn't admitted what happened to him. Not out loud, at least."

"Denial?" Hotch asked.

"He could still be in shock," Gideon said.

"I asked him if he wanted to talk about it and he told me that there was nothing to talk about,"

"He sees it happen to other people, to victims. He hasn't registered that he is the victim this time."

"He seemed like he was, at the hospital, but then we got him here and he shut down completely," Morgan murmured, "And… He saw. On his back,"

"How did he react?" Hotch asked.

"Not good." Morgan said, "I should probably go check on him,"

"I will," Gideon said, "You've probably been up with him all night," Morgan laughed humorlessly.

"Spencer?" Gideon asked, opening the door to his guest bedroom, "Are you awake?"

A ruffling noise came from the bed before the boy answered, "Yes,"

"Hotch is here. Do you want to come eat?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

"Spencer,"

"Yes?"

"It wasn't so much of a question as it was a politely placed command. Come on, you have to come eat something so you can take your antibiotics," Gideon replied, flipping on the light switch.

The young profiler's eyes looked dim, the bags under them more predominant than usual. He looked scared and sad.

He reminded Gideon of his son, Stephen, from when he was a young boy and had a nightmare.

But Reid wasn't having a nightmare, this was his reality.

Gideon sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, "Spencer, what I said yesterday-"

"It's alright," Reid cut him off, shifting away from the older man, looking at his hands.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," He said, faking enthusiasm.

"Well, come eat some breakfast, yeah?" He said, helping the boy up, "Did you get _any _sleep last night?"

"Yes, I got plenty, thank you," Reid said politely, not looking at the older man.

"So if I were to ask Morgan if you woke up-"

"I only got up to go to the bathroom," Spencer lied quietly, not looking at Gideon.

Gideon sighed, placing a gentle hand on Reid's back, where his cuts were, "It's not true, Spencer. You're not. You know that, right?"

"I...I don't know what you mean," Spencer responded, breaking out of Gideon's grasp and walking into the kitchen alone.

Gideon watched him go, fearful for what the youngest member of his team was going through.


End file.
